Cornelian
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of carnelian. alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable
"This proceedeth from the variety of air (commonly found in islands) which sometimes being moist, sullies and renders the cornelian pale or albescent, after the manner of glass, which when breath'd upon, is clouded with a pale whitish colour, but upon change to a drier air, which will often happen in a moment, the cornelian recovers its former brisk red colour."
- 2 The cornelian cherry (fruit).
- 3 a translucent red or orange variety of chalcedony wordnet
- 4 Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Deudorix. countable, uncountable
- 1 Pertaining to Pierre Corneille, or characteristic of his tragedies
"Nick tried for a while to talk to Emile about scrap metal, which tested his Cornelian French to the limits […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"This proceedeth from the variety of air (commonly found in islands) which sometimes being moist, sullies and renders the cornelian pale or albescent, after the manner of glass, which when breath'd upon, is clouded with a pale whitish colour, but upon change to a drier air, which will often happen in a moment, the cornelian recovers its former brisk red colour."
Etymology
From Old French corneline (French cornaline), from Medieval Latin cornus or cornum after the berry Cornus mas (cornelian cherry).
From French cornélien.
Related phrases
More for "cornelian"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.